The King and the Kingdom III

Posted on by

The-King-&-the -KingdomSunday 09/27/15

 

Series: The King and the Kingdom III

 

Message – The Judging of the church & the Setting aside of Israel

Click here for the Video

In this follow up teaching on the Good Heart – we’ve defined a few things about the seed that was sown in that good heart.

The seed is the Good New (or gospel message) of the King and His kingdom!

The good heart receives both the word AND the PURPOSE of the word.

The purpose of the message, seed or Good News is the rule & reign of Christ in the hearts of men. This is the current expression of the Kingdom of God in the earth today – and that is what we will be talking about before the end of the message today.

Last Week…

We ended last week walking through scripture, looking at the progression of the prophecies and their fulfillments concerning Israel rejecting their Messiah, which initiated their being set aside for the time of the Gentiles.

We ended with Acts 13:44-46,

“On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.”

Entering the Kingdom

One thing that is troubling about how the Gospel message is taught in today’s world is that it is treated like something ones adds to their life – like one choosing items in a buffet line.

  • The Gospel is taught from the perspective of what is in it for man…..in other words it is all about what one is saved FROM rather than WHO they are saved to!
  • Eternal life is often defined as a destination (heaven) rather than an intimate journey of coming to know God.
  • Man is represented as the thing God cannot live without, rather than the other way about! In short, it is a Gospel that is selfish, man-focused and entirely unlike the Gospel of the 1st century!

Most of the confusion could begin to be set aside by beginning to employ the same terminology that the early apostles used for the Gospel….namely, the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Most are unaware that the emphasis is all wrong today! Comparatively, Jesus and the apostles and used words like salvation, savior, heaven and Kingdom of heaven FAR less frequently than words like Kingdom, Lord & Kingdom of God.

Below is a sampling of the usage of those words in the New Testament…

– Lord – 681

– Kingdom of God – 292

– Heaven – 261

– Kingdom – 163

– Salvation – 43

– Kingdom of heaven – 33

– Savior – 23

While this does not say that topics like heaven, savior & salvation are not important, it DOES place a much greater emphasis on Christ’s Lordship, our citizenship and therefore our responsibilities to submit and obey as stewards in that Kingdom.

In keeping with this, we have coined extra-biblical phrases which are not consistent with the Gospel Jesus, Paul, Peter, James & John preached.

  • Accept Jesus as your savior
  • Invite Jesus into your heart
  • Confess your sins and then confess Christ as Savior
  • Just believe that Jesus died for your sins
  • Believe in the “finished work of Christ’

This list goes on and on!

While none of these things in an of themselves are entirely wrong – they do paint a very different picture of salvation than did the writers of the New Testament.

The unifying error linking all of these together is something akin to doing Jesus a favor, or letting Him have the “honor” of saving you.

Let’s make something ULTRA clear from the onset – our coming into the Kingdom is NOT doing God a favor, it is God doing one for us! God is NONE the better if we are in and none the worse if we are out. He is timeless and without change!

The Gospel message we see in scripture was focused on these things…

  • Believe that Christ came in a physical body.
    • “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” ~ 1Jn. 4:1-3
    • “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU DID NOT DESIRE, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME.” ~ Heb. 10:4-5
  • Believe He lived a sinless life.
    • “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” ~ Heb. 4:14-15
  • Believe that He offered Himself as the ransom for our sins by physically dying.
    • “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” ~ Matt. 20:28
    • “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” ~ Gal. 1:3-5
    • “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.” ~ 1Cor. 15:1-5
  • That He raised from the dead by which He justified us.
    • “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.” ~ Acts 4:33
    • “Righteousness shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” ~ Rom 4:24-25
  • That he was inaugurated as King of kings and Lord of lords by the Father.
    • The first chapter of Hebrews (too long to put here)
    • “I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.” ~ 1Tim. 6:13-16
    • “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, TILL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES YOUR FOOTSTOOL.” ‘ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” ~ Acts 2:32-36
  • Our placing ourselves underneath His authority and reign by relying upon Him and His work.
    • “And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,” ~ Acts 5:14
      (Notice they were added not to the Savior or to heaven…but tot he Lord!)
    • “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” ~ James 4:10
    • “YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” ~ Heb. 2:8-9
    • “But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—” ~ Acts 10:35-36
  • Confessing Him as the genuine and uncontested Lord of our lives so that he might be our Savior!
    • “…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” ~ Rom. 10:9-10

To just confess Jesus as savior is tantamount to a child skipping the salad and meal to run headlong into desert. While it may seem fun, since it is focused on what we most enjoy, it is a diet which will make us sick for salvation is not in it!

I’ll offer an sample of the message they preached as a summary example…

“Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes into Him will receive remission of sins.“ ~ Acts 10:34-43

 

Remember One Purpose – Four agendas

Last Wednesday I mentioned that God is active in the earth and is specifically dealing with 4 people groups…

  1. The church
  2. Israel
  3. Ishmaelites
  4. …the rest of the world

All of these, of course, fit into the much broader categories of “the world” and “the church” .

  • There are things God promised the physical nation of Israel through Abram.
  • There are things God promised to Abraham through his seed of Isaac.
  • There are things God promised both Abram and Hagar regarding Ishmael.
  • There are things God the Father promised both Abraham and Jesus concerning the world at large.

God’s promise to Abram

God promised a physical land to Israel through Abram. This is the land Israel will occupy during the Millennial reign of Christ. We will address this in a week or two.

God’s Promise to Abraham through the seed of Issac

God’s promise of a nation who would be called the children of God was through God’s promised offspring of Isaac.

“But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “IN ISAAC YOUR SEED SHALL BE CALLED.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.” ~ Rom. 9:6-8

You see, the kingdom of God is not made of the natural born children of Abraham, but of the promise – that is those birthed by faith in the working of God.

Jesus also addressed this as well in His ministry, through His teachings, comments and parables.

“And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ~ Matt. 8:11-12

“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ‘ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.” ~ Matt. 22:2-14

God’s promise to both Abram and Hagar regarding Ishmael

To Hagar…

“And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” The Angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” And the Angel of the LORD said to her: “Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction. He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren…So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.”  ~ Gen. 16:8-12, 15

To Abraham,

“And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”  ~ Gen. 17:18-21

We do not know how long God will prosper Ishmael, nor His goals in doing so, but we do know why He did it, and that was to honor Abram his natural father. We know one thing for certain, God is working Ishmael into the plans He has for the Kingdom. In fact, some of the most astounding conversion experiences in our day come from Jesus Himself appearing to sons of Ishmael and their following glorious conversion! God is faithful!

God the Father’s promise to both Abraham and Jesus concerning the world at large

This promise is part of the promise of a nation of sons and daughters of God, comprising God’s kingdom. However, it is not about the actual sons and daughters, but the promise to bring the lost from afar into the kingdom.

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.” ~ Luke 2:29-32

“For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I HAVE SET YOU AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, THAT YOU SHOULD BE FOR SALVATION TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.’ ” Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region.” ~ Acts 13:47-49

“And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: ‘AFTER THIS I WILL RETURN AND WILL REBUILD THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID, WHICH HAS FALLEN DOWN; I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS, AND I WILL SET IT UP; SO THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK THE LORD, EVEN ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME, SAYS THE LORD WHO DOES ALL THESE THINGS.’ “Known to God from eternity are all His works.” ~ Acts 15:13-18

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.“ ~ Matt. 28:18-20

“Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.” “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.” ~ Psalm 2:6-8

The progression of the kingdom

Starting with Hagar and Ishmael, we worked out way through many of the scriptures that talked about God’s dealings with Israel and how they rejected His advances and turned their backs on their Messiah.

  • Promise for Ishmael – Gen 16:1-16
  • Who has believed our report? Isa. 53:1; Jn. 12:38, Rom. 10:16

We specifically ended with verses that covered the relationship of God to Israel and the Church and the transition of God’s focus from Israel to the Gentiles.

  • Wedding Feast – Matt. 22:1-14
  • Unworthy of eternal life – turn to gentiles – Acts 13:46

Beginning on Wednesday we will finish this path through the scripture revealing God’s relationship to Israel and the ushering in of the ‘time of the Gentiles’. Afterwards we will begin to look at the entire affair from God’s perspective by working through Romans 9-11.

Blessings! 

 

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.

If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but all outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.

 

Blessings!

 

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!